Review

KDX-C, Lyrix Gold, KDX-M & Seismix 3 mk2 Complete Review - Audio & Video Lifestyle - Australia

01 Aug 2004

For most of us, turning 30 is a milestone we’d rather forget all about. It means you’ve now got to be responsible and think about settling down. And it seems worse for women for some reason, who find it much harder to let go of their 20’s than us blokes. All we’ve got to worry about is receding hairlines and the increasing waistlines!

Krix, on the other hand, is making the most of its big 3-0. The brand is the oldest loudspeaker manufacturer in Australia and one of less than a handful that export its products to all parts of the globe. As part of its celebrations, you may have noticed that we have a fine collection of Krix subscriptions prizes. The main prize is either a pair of $4,000 Esoterix 1 mk2 floorstanders or a home theatre collection, worth $4,050. The winner also gets to fly to Adelaide and enjoy a day of Krix’ hospitality and collect whichever prize they choose. Having been to the factory myself and spent a day at Krix, I dare say the winner will also be in for a trip to a vineyard or two, as the beautiful McLaren Vale is just down the road.

Having already reviewed the Esoterix 1 mk2 in Audio & Video Lifestyle issue AVL-142, it’s now the turn of the home theatre system. It’s made up of a pair of Lyrix Gold floorstanders, KDX-M surrounds, KDX-C centre and a Seismix 3 mk2 subwoofer. I’ve reviewed all these models in the past, but not as a collection as they have been assembled here.

The system is completely matched and tonal evenness is assured with the types of drivers used. As a collection, this system would suit a mid to larger sized room and it also would appreciate some decent partnering electronics – especially the quality of the amplification and surround sound processing. I’m not talking silly money items, but something that will drive the system comfortably and provide good quality 5.1 channel decoding. Like the sort of equipment I use, namely an Onkyo DV-SP502 universal DVD player and TX-SR702 home theatre receiver. If you wanted to add to the system and upgrade to 7.1 channels then another pair of KDX-M’s could be added, or a pair of Krix’s in-ceiling Holographix or Atmospherix speakers would also do the job nicely.

If you’re content with quality 5.1 home theatre sound, then this system is perfect. The Lyrix Golds were developed primarily as a 2-channel stereo pair, but their duality means they are just as happy as the main fronts delivering their portion of a movie soundtrack. The construction quality is nothing short of excellent, something which applies to all of the Krix speakers. Finished in a lacquered real wood Jarrah veneer, the term ‘hi-fi furniture’ applied to these cabinets. The Lyrix Golds are a 2-way design and the cabinets are bass reflex and are rear ported. There’s a removable foam plug in each port, which you can use if the speakers are positioned a bit too close to a rear wall. Ideally, they need about a metre, but if space doesn’t allow this, the foam plugs help stop any bass boominess from too much wall reinforcement.

The twin 165mm woofers are made with doped paper cones, as are the KDX’s twin 130mm drivers and the same 26mm fabric dome tweeter is used throughout, which ensures the all important cohesion and tonal balance. The crossover plays a large part in a loudspeaker’s actual sound quality and it often pays to keep this part of speaker design as simple as possible. In the case of the Lyrix Golds that’s exactly the case and the crossover point between the bass/midrange drivers and the tweeter is 2kHz. The speakers can be biwired, or if you’re feeling really adventurous, biamped.

The only difference between the KDX-M and KDX-C models is in the crossover of the centre channel speaker because it is horizontally aligned, whereas the KDX-M’s operate vertically. Otherwise, they are identical and were originally designed to be used as a complete KDX system. The surrounds and centre are rated at a nominal 6 ohm impedance and 89dB sensitivity and the Lyrix Golds rate at 4 ohms and 90dB. This isn’t a difficult load, but the AV receiver or amplification does need to be able to handle a 4 ohm impedance and in use, the Onkyo TX-SR702 that I was using had absolutely no troubles driving the Krix and driving them hard.

The subwoofer is the re-worked baby of Krix’s three-strong domestic range, the Seismix 3 mk2. It’s no baby in stature or performance though, equipped with a single forward-firing long-throw 10-inch (250mm) woofer and 200 watts of amplification. The same cabinet carpentry and luxurious finish is applied to the subwoofer and the large front bass reflex port also means it’s more forgiving of placement close to the back wall or in a corner, as many people like to hide the sub out of the way. This one’s too pretty for that and with the grille off, the amount of timber veneer on show makes this the sort of subwoofer you really don’t mind seeing. Nor do you mind hearing it. The smallest Seismix is still a very considerable sounding subwoofer and its refinement and bass finesse matches the Lyrix Golds perfectly. As a whole, this Krix combination well and truly works together. The Seismix 3 sounds deep and purposeful, but not overbearing and the midrange performance of the Lyrix Golds seamlessly takes over and it too has plenty of presence without ever overdoing it. Going further up the scale, the treble is bright , peppy and there’s always that sense of freshness and freedom, but without any hint of spit or shriek. Listening to dance or rap, the rhythmic ability of the Krix is superb, especially wit the melodic likes of Faithless’ No Roots. The track What About Love? is delivered with hard-hitting rhythms and wide-ranging dynamics. Clarity is of a very high order and it’s no effort to make sense of the multi-layered samples and drum machines used.

Moving on to a bit of movie watching, the Krix system is very much in its element. Krix is well known as a manufacturer and installer for commercial cinema speaker systems and what it know about reproducing big screen movie action, definitely translates to its domestic home theatre speakers. That same refinement that is present when listening to music is also there with multichannel movie sound. I recently received a copy of the 10-disc Ultimate Matrix Collection and apart from hours and hours of extra features, the original film The Matrix has also undergone re-mastered picture and audio. The 5.1 Dolby Digital soundtrack positively overflows with effects and lightening fast panning sound, at cranked up to reference level, the Krix took all that was thrown at it. Even at these high volume levels, the Krix is still a system that is easy to listen to. No matter how savage the on-screen action, there’s nothing unpleasant about the sound of this speaker system. Bass depth is befitting the scale and impact of the film and there’s plenty of substance and extension generated by the Seismix subwoofer. It’s wonderfully controlled and never overblown, even when the frequencies reach the lowest depths.

With films like Godsend, the more subtle and atmospheric effects sound so realistic, you’re constantly on edge throughout the film. These effects are meant to be delivered instantly and the Krix system has all the agility and poise necessary. There’s plenty of dynamic crunch too and the KDX-M’s produce plenty of weight from the rear. All around, there’s terrific movement of sound from speaker to speaker, very strong vocal character from the KDX-C and integration and cohesion is the key to this home theatre speaker system’s scintillating performance.

Given the fact that some lucky AVL subscriber could win this system, then they are going to be receiving a home theatre system that’s very easy on both the eyes and ears. If you’re not so lucky, parting with $4,000 is still a very wise financial decision if you’re in the market for home theatre speakers from one of Australia’s finest.

- Audio & Video Lifestyle - Australia , Nic Tatham

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